New York manhunt intensifies for suspect in father's killing, house fire

New York State Police were searching Saturday for Thomas David Ryan, 32, after investigators tied him to his father's death and a deliberately set house fire in Greenville, Orange County. Troopers said Ryan should be considered armed and dangerous, and they released his photo while asking the public for help locating him.

On Aug. 6 at about 7:30 p.m., the State Police Greenville barracks responded to a fire at a home in Greenville. Firefighters found the house gutted, and investigators later determined the blaze had been intentionally set. Police said the death inside the home is being investigated as a homicide, turning the case into a combined arson and murder investigation at a single damaged scene.

The victim was identified as Robert Ryan, 70. Family members remembered him as a giving father who never gave up on his son, and relatives had feared a tragedy involving Thomas David Ryan. Investigators believe the fire was meant to conceal the killing, adding urgency to a case that already had troopers warning the public not to approach the suspect.

State police also said Ryan was believed to be driving a 2016 gray Toyota Prius with New York license plate HNH-7671. That vehicle detail widened the search beyond Greenville and kept attention on roads through the Hudson Valley and upstate New York, where officers were working to track any movement connected to Ryan.

The case has forced detectives to piece together evidence from both the fire and the homicide, a combination that can destroy clues even as it sharpens the central question of what happened inside the home. With Ryan still at large and police treating him as armed and dangerous, authorities continued to press for tips from anyone who saw him, the Prius, or anything else tied to the Orange County scene.